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This hemispheric view of Venus, as revealed by more than a decade of radar investigations culminating in the 1990-1994 Magellan mission, is centered at 90 degrees east longitude. The Magellan spacecraft imaged more than 98 percent of Venus. A mosaic of the Magellan images (most with illumination from the west) forms the image base. NASA/JPL-Caltech

The terrestrial planets are the four innermost planets in the solar system; Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are called terrestrial because they have a compact, rocky surface like the Earth's. The planets Venus, Earth, and Mars have significant atmospheres, while Mercury has almost none. This diagram shows the approximate relative sizes of the terrestrial planets. Distances are not to scale. Lunar and Planetary Institute/NASA

The month of October features a sky full of planets, including Venus as the brilliant evening star. Besides the sun and moon, Venus is the brightest object visible in Earth's sky. STS 30 Crew/NASA

Venus has also proven to be a popular way-point for spacecraft headed for the gas giant planets in the outer reaches of the solar system. Why visit Venus first? Using a gravity assist maneuver, spacecraft can swing by planets and gain energy during their brief encounter, saving fuel for use at the end of their long interplanetary voyage. This colorized image of Venus was recorded by the Jupiter-bound Galileo spacecraft shortly after its gravity assist flyby of Venus in February of 1990. NASA/JPL

Enjoying the 2004 transit of Venus from Stuttgart, Germany, astronomer Stefan Seip recorded this fascinating, detailed image of the Sun. Revealing a network of cells and dark filaments against a bright solar disk with spicules and prominences along the Sun's limb, his telescopic picture was taken through an H-alpha filter. Venus can be seen in the lower right.Stefan Seip

This image is a composite of the complete radar image collection obtained by the Magellan mission. The Magellan spacecraft was launched aboard space shuttle Atlantis in May 1989 and began mapping the surface of Venus in September 1990. The spacecraft continued to orbit Venus for four years, returning high- resolution images, altimetry, thermal emissions and gravity maps of 98 percent of the surface. NASA/JPL

This is a Magellan press release image showing radio-thermal emission (emissivity). Red represents high emissivity and blue low. The unnamed volcano is about a mile high and shows low emissivity at the summit, which could indicate the presence of pyrrohtite or pyrite, minerals which may not be stable at lower altitudes. NASA

Earth's Moon passes in front of the distant planet Venus. The occultation was caught from Switzerland in the hours before sunset. Moments after this image was taken, the Moon, visible as the crescent on the right of the above image, eclipsed Venus, appearing near half-phase on the lower left. Peter Heinzen

Rick Guidice's conception of surface of Venus was painted in 1977.NASA/Ames Research Center

Arachnoids are large structures of unknown origin that have been found only on the surface of Venus. Arachnoids get their name from their resemblance to spider webs. They appear as concentric ovals surrounded by a complex network of fractures, and can span 120 miles. Radar echoes from the Magellan spacecraft that orbited Venus from 1990 to 1994 built up this image. Over 30 arachnoids have been identified on Venus, so far. Magellan Team/JPL/NASA

Planet Venus traced out this S-shape in Earth's sky during 2004. Following the second planet from the Sun in a series of 29 images recorded from April 3rd through August 7th (top right to bottom left) of that year, astronomer Tunc Tezel constructed this composite illustrating the wandering planet's path against the background stars. The series reveals Venus' apparent retrograde motion, transporting it from a brilliant evening star to morning's celestial beacon. Tunç Tezel

An ultraviolet image of Venus' clouds is seen by the Pioneer Venus orbiter in 1979. Pioneer Venus used an orbiter and several small probes to study the planet from above and within the clouds. NASA

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The next transit of Venus occurs June 5. Astronomers once used the transit of Venus across the sun to come up with the 'astronomical unit' – the distance from Earth to our sun.

ByJoe Rao, Space.comMay 30, 2012

(AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)

On June 5, the planet Venus will appear to cross in front of the disk of the sun, appearing as a small black dot. The historic skywatching event, called a transit of Venus by astronomers, is among the rarest of predictable phenomena and one that has amazed scientists and observers throughout history.